Automated key management system and method

ABSTRACT

A system and method for automatic key and certificate management is disclosed. In particular, a key store in a base computer contains both new and previously viewed cryptographic keys. When a mobile communications device is to be updated with the new keys, the new keys are automatically identified by comparing the keys stored in the base computer with a list of previously viewed keys to determine which new keys are to be marked for download. Upon marking the new keys, the user may be prompted to download the newly identified keys, or they may be downloaded automatically. Once the new keys have been marked, the list of previously viewed keys is updated to include those marked, so that the next time updating occurs, the previously viewed key list will be correct.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to mobile wirelesscommunications devices capable of processing cryptographically securemessages and information. In particular, the disclosure is directed to amobile wireless communications device having cryptographic messagingcapability in which automatic key detection and synchronization areprovided.

2. Related Art

Exchanging cryptographically secured electronic messages and data, suchas, for example, e-mail messages, is well known. Cryptographicallysecured electronic messaging typically requires the use of cryptographickeys to perform various cryptographic functions relating to securedelectronic messages. In order to ensure that a user is able to performcryptographic functions, such as, for example, signing, verifying,encrypting, decrypting, etc., secure e-mail messages, users aretypically required to transfer their cryptographic keys from, forexample, a desktop PC or the like, to the mobile wireless communicationsdevice. This transfer is typically accomplished via a hard-wired serialconnection that accommodates a mobile wireless communications device andprovides an interface to the user's desktop PC. When the mobile deviceis in communication with the user's desktop, a utility, such as, forexample, the Certificate Synchronization (sometimes referred to as “CertSync”) running on the user's desktop is used to allow the user to choosewhich keys to synchronize to the mobile wireless communications device.

Periodically, users get issued new signing/decryption keys, for example,for use in secure e-mail messaging. This may be done fairly frequentlyin some systems, for example automatic key rollover systems such as thatemployed by Entrust™, or less frequently if the users keys only expireevery couple of years or so.

When a new key or keys are issued, the user must load these new keysonto the user's mobile wireless communications devices in order to beable to sign and decrypt secured messages with the new keys. Typically,the process of updating the keys for the mobile wireless communicationsdevice involves running Cert Sync on the user's desktop; manuallyidentifying which keys are new; manually selecting keys to download; andsynchronizing with the mobile wireless communications device. Users maynot realize that new keys have been issued in which case they will notbe able to read encrypted e-mail until they synchronize with theirdesktop and update the device key store.

This method of key management for mobile wireless communications devicesis cumbersome, inefficient, subject to widespread inaccuracies and isdifficult to implement. As discussed above, it is difficult to identifywhich keys are new keys even when the user is aware of the issuance ofnew keys.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing, we have now identified an efficient, accurateand easy to implement method for key management in devices that arecapable of processing cryptographically secured electronic messages,such as, for example, mobile wireless communications devices.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, a list ofkeys that have been used or seen in the past is generated. This list isreferred to herein as the history list. Every time Cert Sync is started,the list of keys on the user's desktop is compared with the historylist. If new keys have been added to the system since the last update(or last cradling of the mobile wireless communications device), theywill not appear on the history list. At this point, the user is informedof the detection of newly issued keys, and prompted to download the newkeys, if desired.

If the user elects to download the new keys, the new keys areautomatically marked for download. The new keys are then added to thehistory list so that the user is not prompted with respect to these keysin the future.

Of course, the first time a user starts Cert Sync with this automatedkey management feature, the history list is empty. Thus, the user willinitially be prompted to mark all of the keys for download.

In an alternative embodiment, certificates may be synchronizedautomatically when the user puts his or her mobile wirelesscommunications device in communication with a desktop without having theuser start the Cert Sync utility. In this exemplary embodiment, when thedevice is put in communication with a desktop, new certificates arechecked for by comparing the desktop keys to the history list. If newkeys are present, the user is prompted to download keys, and if the useraccepts, the new keys are downloaded automatically.

In a further alternative embodiment, automatic downloading of new keysthat replace expired keys on the device is contemplated. In thisembodiment, when the user puts his or her mobile wireless communicationsdevice in communication with a desktop, a check is automatically madefor new keys. For each new key, if the corresponding certificate matchesa certificate on the device, the new certificate is automaticallydownloaded without prompting the user. A matching certificate is onethat appears to replace an existing certificate, as the old expiredcertificate has the same common name and issuer name as the newcertificate.

The advantages attendant with the various embodiments of the inventiondescribed above are provided by the method and system of automated keymanagement disclosed and described herein with reference to thedrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other objects and advantages of exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention will be better understood and appreciated inconjunction with the following detailed description of exemplaryembodiments taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an overall system wide schematic view of an exemplary wirelesse-mail communication system incorporating a mobile wirelesscommunications device with the descriptive error messaging in accordancewith an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a further exemplary communication systemincluding multiple networks and multiple mobile communication devices;

FIG. 3 is an abbreviated schematic diagram of hardware included withinan exemplary mobile wireless communications device;

FIG. 4 is an abbreviated schematic functional diagram of thehardware/software utilized to achieve updating of the mobile wirelesscommunication device key/certificate store in the exemplary embodimentof FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is an exemplary abbreviated schematic flow diagram of anautomated key management system according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 6 is an exemplary abbreviated schematic flow diagram of anautomated key management system according to another exemplaryembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is an exemplary abbreviated schematic flow diagram of anautomated key management system according to yet another exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is an overview of an example communication system in which awireless communication device may be used. One skilled in the art willappreciate that there may be hundreds of different topologies, but thesystem shown in FIG. 1 helps demonstrate the operation of the encodedmessage processing systems and methods described in the presentapplication. There may also be many message senders and recipients. Thesimple system shown in FIG. 1 is for illustrative purposes only, andshows perhaps the most prevalent Internet e-mail environment wheresecurity is not generally used.

FIG. 1 shows an e-mail sender 10, the Internet 20, a message serversystem 40, a wireless gateway 85, wireless infrastructure 90, a wirelessnetwork 105 and a mobile communication device 100.

An e-mail sender system 10 may, for example, be connected to an ISP(Internet Service Provider) on which a user of the system 10 has anaccount, located within a company, possibly connected to a local areanetwork (LAN), and connected to the Internet 20, or connected to theInternet 20 through a large ASP (application service provider) such asAmerica Online (AOL). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that thesystems shown in FIG. 1 may instead be connected to a wide area network(WAN) other than the Internet, although e-mail transfers are commonlyaccomplished through Internet-connected arrangements as shown in FIG. 1.

The message server 40 may be implemented, for example, on a networkcomputer within the firewall of a corporation, a computer within an ISPor ASP system or the like, and acts as the main interface for e-mailexchange over the Internet 20. Although other messaging systems mightnot require a message server system 40, a mobile device 100 configuredfor receiving and possibly sending e-mail will normally be associatedwith an account on a message server. Perhaps the two most common messageservers are Microsoft Exchange™ and Lotus Domino™. These products areoften used in conjunction with Internet mail routers that route anddeliver mail. These intermediate components are not shown in FIG. 1, asthey do not directly play a role in the secure message processingdescribed below. Message servers such as server 40 typically extendbeyond just e-mail sending and receiving; they also include dynamicdatabase storage engines that have predefined database formats for datalike calendars, to-do lists, task lists, e-mail and documentation.

The wireless gateway 85 and infrastructure 90 provide a link between theInternet 20 and wireless network 105. The wireless infrastructure 90determines the most likely network for locating a given user and tracksthe user as they roam between countries or networks. A message is thendelivered to the mobile device 100 via wireless transmission, typicallyat a radio frequency (RF), from a base station in the wireless network105 to the mobile device 100. The particular network 105 may bevirtually any wireless network over which messages may be exchanged witha mobile communication device.

As shown in FIG. 1, a composed e-mail message 15 is sent by the e-mailsender 10, located somewhere on the Internet 20. This message 15 isnormally fully in the clear and uses traditional Simple Mail TransferProtocol (SMTP), RFC822 headers and Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension(MIME) body parts to define the format of the mail message. Thesetechniques are all well known to those skilled in the art. The message15 arrives at the message server 40 and is normally stored in a messagestore. Most known messaging systems support a so-called “pull” messageaccess scheme, wherein the mobile device 100 must request that storedmessages be forwarded by the message server to the mobile device 100.Some systems provide for automatic routing of such messages which areaddressed using a specific e-mail address associated with the mobiledevice 100. In a preferred embodiment described in further detail below,messages addressed to a message server account associated with a hostsystem such as a home computer or office computer which belongs to theuser of a mobile device 100 are redirected from the message server 40 tothe mobile device 100 as they are received.

Regardless of the specific mechanism controlling the forwarding ofmessages to the mobile device 100, the message 15, or possibly atranslated or reformatted version thereof, is sent to the wirelessgateway 85. The wireless infrastructure 90 includes a series ofconnections to wireless network 105. These connections could beIntegrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), Frame Relay or T1connections using the TCP/IP protocol used throughout the Internet. Asused herein, the term “wireless network” is intended to include at leastone of three different types of networks, those being (1) data-centricwireless networks, (2) voice-centric wireless networks and (3) dual-modenetworks that can support both voice and data communications over thesame physical base stations. Combined dual-mode networks include, butare not limited to, (1) Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks,(2) the Groupe Special Mobile or the Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM) and the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)networks, and (3) future third-generation (3G) networks like EnhancedData-rates for Global Evolution (EDGE) and Universal MobileTelecommunications Systems (UMTS). Some older examples of data-centricnetwork include the Mobitex™ Radio Network and the DataTAC™ RadioNetwork. Examples of older voice-centric data networks include PersonalCommunication Systems (PCS) networks like GSM, and TDMA systems.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a further example communication systemincluding multiple networks and multiple mobile communication devices.The system of FIG. 2 is substantially similar to the FIG. 1 system, butincludes a host system 300, a redirection program 45, a mobile devicecradle 65, a wireless virtual private network (VPN) router 75, anadditional wireless network 110 and multiple mobile communicationdevices 100. As described above in conjunction with FIG. 1, FIG. 2represents an overview of a sample network topology. Although theencoded message processing systems and methods described herein may beapplied to networks having many different topologies, the network ofFIG. 2 is useful in understanding an automatic e-mail redirection systemmentioned briefly above.

The central host system 300 will typically be a corporate office orother LAN, but may instead be a home office computer or some otherprivate system where mail messages are being exchanged. Within the hostsystem 300 is the message server 400, running on some computer withinthe firewall of the host system, that acts as the main interface for thehost system to exchange e-mail with the Internet 20. In the system ofFIG. 2, the redirection program 45 enables redirection of data itemsfrom the server 400 to a mobile communication device 100. Although theredirection program 45 is shown to reside on the same machine as themessage server 400 for ease of presentation, there is no requirementthat it must reside on the message server. The redirection program 45and the message server 400 are designed to co-operate and interact toallow the pushing of information to mobile devices 100. In thisinstallation, the redirection program 45 takes confidential andnon-confidential corporate information for a specific user and redirectsit out through the corporate firewall to mobile devices 100. A moredetailed description of the redirection software 45 may be found in thecommonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,219,694 (“the '694 Patent”), entitled“System and Method for Pushing Information From A Host System To AMobile Data Communication Device Having A Shared Electronic Address”,and issued to the assignee of the instant application on Apr. 17, 2001which is hereby incorporated into the present application by reference.This push technique may use a wireless friendly encoding, compressionand encryption technique to deliver all information to a mobile device,thus effectively extending the security firewall to include each mobiledevice 100 associated with the host system 300.

As shown in FIG. 2, there may be many alternative paths for gettinginformation to the mobile device 100. One method for loading informationonto the mobile device 100 is through a port designated 50, using adevice cradle 65. This method tends to be useful for bulk informationupdates often performed at initialization of a mobile device 100 withthe host system 300 or a computer 35 within the system 300. The othermain method for data exchange is over-the-air using wireless networks todeliver the information. As shown in FIG. 2, this may be accomplishedthrough a wireless VPN router 75 or through a traditional Internetconnection 95 to a wireless gateway 85 and a wireless infrastructure 90,as described above. The concept of a wireless VPN router 75 is new inthe wireless industry and implies that a VPN connection could beestablished directly through a specific wireless network 110 to a mobiledevice 100. The possibility of using a wireless VPN router 75 has onlyrecently been available and could be used when the new Internet Protocol(IP) Version 6 (IPV6) arrives into IP-based wireless networks. This newprotocol will provide enough IP addresses to dedicate an IP address toevery mobile device 100 and thus make it possible to push information toa mobile device 100 at any time. A principal advantage of using thiswireless VPN router 75 is that it could be an off-the-shelf VPNcomponent, thus it would not require a separate wireless gateway 85 andwireless infrastructure 90 to be used. A VPN connection would preferablybe a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)/IP or User Datagram Protocol(UDP)/IP connection to deliver the messages directly to the mobiledevice 100. If a wireless VPN 75 is not available then a link 95 to theInternet 20 is the most common connection mechanism available and hasbeen described above.

In the automatic redirection system of FIG. 2, a composed e-mail message15 leaving the e-mail sender 10 arrives at the message server 400 and isredirected by the redirection program 45 to the mobile device 100. Asthis redirection takes place the message 15 is re-enveloped, asindicated at 80, and a possibly proprietary compression and encryptionalgorithm can then be applied to the original message 15. In this way,messages being read on the mobile device 100 are no less secure than ifthey were read on a desktop workstation such as 35 within the firewall.All messages exchanged between the redirection program 45 and the mobiledevice 100 preferably use this message repackaging technique. Anothergoal of this outer envelope is to maintain the addressing information ofthe original message except the sender's and the receiver's address.This allows reply messages to reach the appropriate destination, andalso allows the “from” field to reflect the mobile user's desktopaddress. Using the user's e-mail address from the mobile device 100allows the received message to appear as though the message originatedfrom the user's desktop system 35 rather than the mobile device 100.

With reference back to the port 50 and cradle 65 connectivity to themobile device 100, this connection path offers many advantages forenabling one-time data exchange of large items. For those skilled in theart of personal digital assistants (PDAs) and synchronization, the mostcommon data exchanged over this link is Personal Information Management(PIM) data 55. When exchanged for the first time this data tends to belarge in quantity, bulky in nature and requires a large bandwidth to getloaded onto the mobile device 100 where it can be used on the road. Thisserial link may also be used for other purposes, including setting up aprivate security key 111 such as an S/MIME or PGP specific private key,the Certificate (Cert) of the user and their Certificate RevocationLists (CRLs) 60. The private key is preferably exchanged so that thedesktop 35 and mobile device 100 share one personality and one methodfor accessing all mail. The Cert and CRLs are normally exchanged oversuch a link because they represent a large amount of the data that isrequired by the device for S/MIME, PGP and other public key securitymethods.

As depicted in FIG. 3, mobile communications device 100 includes asuitable RF antenna 102 for wireless communication to/from wirelessnetwork 20. Conventional RF, demodulation/modulation and decoding/codingcircuits 104 are provided. As those in the art will appreciate, suchcircuits may involve possibly many digital signal processors (DSPs),microprocessors, filters, analog and digital circuits and the like.However, since such circuitry is well known in the art, it is notfurther described herein.

The mobile communications device 100 will also typically include a maincontrol CPU 106 that operates under the control of a stored program inprogram memory 108, and which has access to data memory 110. CPU 106also communicates with a conventional keyboard 112 and display 114 (forexample, a liquid crystal display or LCD) and audio transducer orspeaker 116. A portion of the data memory 310 is available for storingdata required for decrypting encrypted messages, such as, for example,private keys, digital certificates, and the like. Suitable computerprogram executable code is stored in portions of the program memory 108to constitute stored program logic for receiving and using new or addedprivate keys and/or digital certificates or the like as described below(for example, via a wired serial I/O port or the wireless RF antenna102).

As depicted in FIG. 1, a secure wired synchronization connection 26 (forexample, between serial I/O ports of the user's base unit 24 and thewireless device 100) is typically provided for normal datasynchronization purposes (for example, to synchronize databases in thetwo devices with respect to such things as calendars, to-do lists, tasklists, address books, etc.). Part of prior data synchronizationprocesses has included a program logic such as Cert Sync for maintainingsynchronization between cryptographic message certificates. If a secureover the air (OTA) synchronization connection 28 is available, it mayalso be used by Cert Sync to maintain synchronization of cryptographicmessage certificates.

As previously described, there is a communications link (for example,depicted in dotted lines at 20 in FIG. 1) typically found between thedevice user's base unit 24 and a system message server 14. Accordingly,there is an existing communication path that may be utilized for passingsynchronization data from the user's base unit 24 via channel 30, theserver 14, Internet 12, wireless gateway 16 and wireless infrastructure18 via the OTA synchronization connection 28.

As depicted in FIG. 4, the user's base unit 24 may be used to update themobile wireless communications device 100 with information including,for example, private key information and digital certificateinformation. The user's base station 24 is typically a desktop PC, andmay be of conventional hardware and operating system design. It willtypically include desktop manager program logic 304 (in the form of, forexample, executable computer program logic) for managing, among otherthings, a normal data synchronization connection to device 100. Aspreviously mentioned, in the environment of mobile wirelesscommunications systems, such a desktop manager may typically includelogic for synchronizing cryptographic message certificates. Such logicis denoted here as Cert Sync.

E-mail messages generated using the S/MIME and PGP techniques mayinclude encrypted information, a digital signature on the messagecontents, or both. In signed S/MIME operations the sender takes a digestof a message and signs the digest using the sender's private key. Adigest is essentially a checksum, CRC or other preferably non-reversibleoperation such as a hash of the message, which is then signed. Thesigned digest is appended to the outgoing message, possibly along withthe certificate of the sender and possibly any required certificates orCRLs. The receiver of this signed message must also take a digest of themessage, compare this digest with the digest appended to the message,retrieve the sender's public key, and verify the signature on theappended digest. If the message content has been changed, the digestswill be different or the signature on the digest will not verifyproperly. If the message is not encrypted, this signature does notprevent anyone from seeing the contents of the message, but does ensurethat the message has not been tampered with and is from the actualperson as indicated on the “from” field of the message.

The receiver may also verify the certificate and CRL if they wereappended to the message. A certificate chain is a certificate along witha number of other certificates required to verify that the originalcertificate is authentic. While verifying the signature on a signedmessage, the receiver of the message will also typically obtain acertificate chain for the signing certificate and verify that eachcertificate in the chain was signed by the next certificate in thechain, until a certificate is found that was signed by a rootcertificate from a trusted source, such as, for example, a large PublicKey Server (PKS) associated with a Certificate Authority (CA), such as,for example, Verisign or Entrust, both prominent companies in the fieldof public key cryptography. Once such a root certificate is found, asignature can be verified and trusted, since both the sender andreceiver trust the source of the root certificate.

In encrypted S/MIME message operations, a one-time session key isgenerated and used to encrypt the body of the message, typically with asymmetric cipher, such as, for example, Triple DES. The session key isthen encrypted using the receiver's public key, typically with a publickey encryption algorithm like RSA. If the message is addressed to morethan one receiver, the same session key is encrypted using the publickey of each receiver. The encrypted message body, as well as allencrypted session keys, is sent to every receiver. Each receiver mustthen locate its own session key, possibly based on a generated RecipientInfo summary of the receivers that may be attached to the message, anddecrypt the session key using its private key. Once the session key isdecrypted, it is then used to decrypt the message body. The S/MIMERecipient Info attachment can also specify the particular encryptionscheme that must be used to decrypt the message. This information isnormally placed in the header of the S/MIME message. Those skilled inthe art will appreciate that these operations relate to an illustrativeexample of S/MIME messaging and its associated encoding operations,namely encryption. It will also be understood that the instantdisclosure is in no way limited thereto.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosureshowing one form of automated key management according to the presentdisclosure. At the outset, a history list of keys that have been seen orused in the past is generated 500. Each time the device is put incommunication with a desktop 502, Cert Sync (or any similar application)is automatically invoked and begins running 504. Cert Sync compares thehistory list with the list of keys on the user's desktop 506. If newkeys have been added to the system since the last update (or lastcommunication of the mobile wireless communications device with thedesktop) they will not appear on the history list, and will thus bedetected at step 507. If new keys are detected 507, the user will beprompted to mark the new keys for downloading 508. If the user elects tomark the new keys 510, they new keys are marked for download 514. Thenext time the user elects to download keys to his mobile device, anykeys that were previously marked for download in step 514 will bedownloaded to the user's device. Once the new keys have been marked, thehistory list is updated with the newly downloaded key list 512. At step510, if the user elects not to mark the new keys, the history list isnevertheless updated with the new key information 512.

In an alternative embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6, certificates may besynchronized automatically when the user puts his or her mobile wirelesscommunications device in communication with the desktop 602 after thehistory list has been generated 600. In this embodiment, the keys of themobile wireless communication device are updated without running theCert Sync application. According to this alternative embodiment, newcertificates are checked for by comparing the desktop keys to thehistory keys 606. If new keys are detected 607, the user is prompted todownload the new keys 608. If the user elects to download the new keys610, the new keys are downloaded 614, and the history list updated 616.If the user elects not to download the new keys at 610, the history listis nevertheless updated with the new key information 612. Alternatively,when new keys are detected, the user may be prompted to run, forexample, the Cert Sync application to mark and download the new keys,and these new keys may be downloaded, for example, as set forth abovewith reference to FIG. 5.

According to yet another embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 7, automaticdownloading of new keys that replace expired keys on the device isdisclosed. In this embodiment, when the user puts the mobile wirelesscommunications device in communication with the desktop 700, a check isautomatically made for new keys 702 by comparing the history list withthe list of keys at the desktop. For each new key, if the correspondingcertificate matches an existing certificate 704, the new certificate isautomatically downloaded 706 without prompting the user. Once thedownload is completed, the history list is updated 710. Thus, theprocess is entirely transparent to the user. It is noted that a matchingcertificate is one that appears to replace an existing certificate, asthe old expired certificate has the same common name and issuer name asthe new certificate.

It will be understood that the above described key management system hasbeen described with respect to mobile wireless communications devices,and is intended to be illustrative only. It will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art that this type of key management system has wideranging application in unlimited and innumerable systems, especiallythose encountered in the computer and electronics fields.

1. A system for processing electronic messages, comprising: a basecomputer comprising a first memory for storing keys for use in secureelectronic messages, wherein a current list of keys stored in said firstmemory is maintained at said base computer; a mobile communicationsdevice comprising a second memory for storing keys for use in secureelectronic messages; and program logic operable to generate a historylist of keys at said base computer, wherein a plurality of previouslyavailable keys for download is identifiable in said history list ofkeys; wherein said program logic is further operable to enable selectionof new keys in said first memory for downloading to said second memory,said new keys being based on a new key indicator generated by saidprogram logic, said new key indicator marking keys that have not beenpreviously available for download; and wherein said new key indicator isgenerated by comparing said history list of keys with said current listof keys stored in said first memory, and marking keys that areidentified in said current list of keys but not identified in saidhistory list of keys.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein said mobilecommunications device comprises a wireless device.
 3. The system ofclaim 1, wherein said program logic is resident on said base computer.4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a device that receives saidmobile communications device and provides a hard wired interfaceenabling communication between said base computer and said mobilecommunications device.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein an interfacebetween said mobile communications device and said base computercomprises a wireless interface invoked by commands initiated on saidmobile communications device.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein saidprogram logic is invoked via a key synchronization utility running onsaid base computer.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein said keys areprovided in digital certificates.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein saidprogram logic is further operable to detect keys added to said firstmemory of said base computer, wherein said current list of keysidentifies said keys added to said first memory of said base computer.9. The system of claim 1, wherein said program logic is further operableto update said history list of keys after said comparing.
 10. The systemof claim 1, wherein said new key indicator is generated automaticallyafter said mobile communications device is put into communication withsaid base computer.
 11. A method for updating a cryptographic key storeof a mobile communications device comprising: maintaining a current listof keys stored in a memory of a base computer; establishing acommunications connection between the base computer and the mobilecommunications device; generating a history list of keys at said basecomputer, wherein a plurality of previously available keys for downloadis identifiable in said history list of keys; identifying new keys insaid memory of said base computer by comparing said history list of keyswith said current list of keys stored in the memory of said basecomputer, wherein said new keys comprise keys that are identified insaid current list of keys but not identified in said history list ofkeys; marking the new keys identified by the identifying step fordownloading; and downloading the marked new keys to the mobilecommunications device.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein said step ofestablishing a connection is accomplished via a hard wired connection.13. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of establishing aconnection is accomplished via a wireless connection.
 14. The method ofclaim 11, wherein said step of identifying new keys is accomplishedusing a certificate synchronization utility running on the basecomputer.
 15. The method of claim 11, further comprising updating thehistory list of keys after said comparing.
 16. The method of claim 11,further comprising detecting keys added to said memory of said basecomputer, wherein said current list of keys identifies said keys addedto said memory of said base computer.
 17. The method of claim 11,wherein said identifying is initiated automatically after saidestablishing.